On Aug 21, 2012, at 11:50 AM, Mac User #330250 wrote: > ---------- Original message ---------- > Subject: Selling software? > Date: Thursday, 16. August 2012 > From: John Callahan <[email protected]> > To: "List G3-5" <[email protected]> >> Is it legal to sell software that you have purchased from Apple, for >> instance? Thanks > > Interesting timing… A coincidence? > > http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/02/pre-owned-music-lawsuit-2/ >> Among others, the legal questions before the judge included the first-sale >> doctrine, the legal theory that people in lawful possession of copyrighted >> material have the right to sell it. > > Yes, it’s about music, but the question would also fit for digitally > downloaded > software (when no hard copy i.e. installation media exists). > > http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/117405-redigi-case-heads-to-court-are- > we-allowed-to-resell-our-digital-music-and-games-or-not
This is a thornier issue than it would first appear. Absent DRM, the right of first sale is impossible to enforce equitably. Applied to a book or physical recording (record, tape, CD, etc) this line is clear...if you sell the thing, you no longer have the thing. Selling the thing while retaining a copy is much more difficult, and it's very easy to tell which is the original and which is the copy. With digital works that do not have DRM, it's physically impossible to determine if a work being sold is the original or a copy. Regardless of your stance on 'those bastids the record companies', the earth-shattering evil that is DRM (at least to hear the foes proclaim) and your take on 'information wants to be free', it's not unreasonable for intellectual property owners to wish to restrict unlicensed, uncompensated multiple resale of their property. > Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t buy *a* *thing* that is sold without a media > or printed envelope and I dislike anything without a printed manual. > > I’m still buying Audio CDs. I do use iTunes on the Cube and I even have an > iTunes account, but since I only use ripped tracks (from the CDs) its sole > purpose is to get the album covers downloaded. > I'd wager that probably half or more of all the audio CD's available in used record shops live on as audio files on the previous owner's computer (or computers, depending on how many times they've changed hands). Yes in ways you're a fossil, there are a lot of folks like you (although I'm rather grateful that my Oracle documentation lives as folder full of files on my computer rather than a seven foot bookshelf groaning with the weight of a half-a-forest worth of paper... Personally, like most folks, probably, my collection is a mixture of physical and digitally sourced software and media. Yes Apple could decide that I don't deserve my music and try to prevent me from playing it, but only in iTunes and since it's a format that can be played in other players (AAC is an open standard) So what, I have my backups. In fact my physical media is more vulnerable to loss than my digital, since I have offsite backups of my digital media. -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
